BEVERLY HILLS—Voters in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, November 8 rejected a local ballot initiative that would have sanctioned the Beverly Hilton Hotel to build a condo tower.
According to a report from Variety, the Beverly Hilton’s Owner, Beny Alagem avoided the City Hall approval process by placing Measure HH on the ballot.
Voters against the proposal comprised of 55.86 percent of the vote, after all the districts were counted. The margin consisted of about 1,200 votes. Provisional ballots have not been counted.
Opponents of the ballot argued that the 26-story condo would be too tall for the city standing over 375 feet. Alagem reportedly spent $7 million on the project. The result was in favor of Alagem’s rival, Wanda Properties, a U.S. subsidiary of the Dalian Wanda Group. Wanda properties put $1.2 million into defeating the Hilton project. Other opponents included Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch.
“Right now, it looks like they want the 2008 plan built. If that result holds, that is exactly what we will do,” said Beverly Hilton Hotel spokeswoman, Marie Garvey to Variety. Garvey is referring to plans that were approved for the site on a 2008 ballot referendum. That plan refers to two towers being built instead of 1; one tower standing 18 stories tall and the other tower being eight stories tall.
